Wednesday blog links

1. It's not just Cash for Clunkers, it's also IOUs for suckers.
2. It takes the average Berliner 19 minutes to earn the money a Big Mac costs, and only 15 in Frankfurt. Chicago, Tokyo, and Toronto: 12. Worldwide average: 37. This is a nice synchronic snapshot of purchasing power in understandable terms.
3. Who fucked over your dream of the Swiss bank account full of money? The U.S. government. To be fair, the Swiss government didn't help too much either.